Manifesta International Foundation

Manifesta European Biennial of Contemporary Art History Manifesta grew out of an early Dutch initiative, to create a pioneering, pan-European platform for the contemporary visual arts. The concept of an itinerant Manifesta first took shape in The Hague at The Netherlands Office for Fine Arts and later in Rotterdam, in consultation with a specially appointed International Advisory Board (the forerunner of the present Foundation) and with the support of thirty National Governmental Arts organisations and Ministries of Culture in Europe. Today, Manifesta is the name of a series of interdisciplinary projects launched by International Foundation Manifesta in Amsterdam, The Netherlands, to investigate the practice and potential of contemporary art in dialogue with social, geopolitical and broader cultural aspects. Starting with the first European Biennial of contemporary art in 1996, the objectives of all Manifesta projects have been to promote new models and stimulate new ideas and forms of artistic expression, and to provide both a forum for exchange between artists, academics, other professionals and the general public, and an ever expanding, proactive international network. Conceived in the early 1990s, at a time of important political changes in Europe, the Manifesta Biennial aimed to become a nomadic, pan-European event, with the inbuilt ability to respond flexibly to the changing conditions of society and of contemporary artistic practice. In moving from one city to another every two years, it seeks to respond to the fresh challenges of new locations and renovated working structures, and to encourage the teams of invited curators and artists to develop innovative works and models for the display and production of contemporary art, while strengthening the links between their artistic practice and the chosen socio-political landscape.